Some things about theory which I hope will make sense and come together at the end.
I studied RCM rudiments theory, all three levels, in a short time - a lot of it blended in what I had instinctively - did the two higher exams. I then restudied them in a more real way, and finally taught it pro bono to a keen learner in how I thought it best to learn. Then get to "harmony theory". After all that out of curiosity I took a "6 week course" in Coursera led by a Yale professor who usually taught it in a semester (your scenario). In Coursera there's forum so we could see when someone was lost and help each other. So:
My teaching/learning idea was to start with concrete real experiences, then the theory which is also written, then find that thing in actual music - a "triangle" (3 sides). When teaching think of the future. Any new concept was first started at the piano, or tapping, listening, before going to pencil and paper. It was a real thing. We also spent enough time. I encouraged her to find examples in music she was playing, and I found some. Re: "future" - for example, at the first level, before learning how to name intervals I had her play every possible interval in an octave (go BB, BC, BC# ....) and note how they "felt" to her. BC and BC# were grating and unpleasant: BF# was smooth, etc. It came up again at a next level, with the V7 or G7 chord GBDF, where the BF in the chord is an "uneasy feeling" tritone that wants to resolve. I could refer right back to that very first experiment.
The six week course (Yale prof) It was open to students with no theory background. It covered what I had taught over 18 months, which itself was accelerated and included some harmony theory that I learned afterward. There was memorization of a lot of abstract things. The prof tried to related some of it to actual music. The inexperienced students were lost in places, and some of us helped sort some of it out. I feared students might memorize things that largely they couldn't relate to anything; or worst scenario, concluded that music theory is very difficult, and they themselves weren't very smart. I wanted to tell them, "It's not that complicated or difficult, and you are smart."
